Do you like needlecrafts? Then you'll probably enjoy my blog. I feature projects I am currently working on in addition to occasional stash enhancements and journeys. I also have a whole herd of kittens and am like a new parent with new photos daily. I usually only post a couple of times a week.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

I managed to finish my Halloween project before the end of the Crochet Games, but made some alterations. The web actually went well once I got the hang of handling cording. I used a different stitch for the candy corn, so varied the pattern a tad as a result. More interesting than plain single crochet. While I wouldn't ordinarily use a beat-up blue tarp to show off completed objects, they do show up well against it.

This Halloween pattern is by Maggie Weldon. I'm not sure of the thread, but the black yarn was similar to Vanna's afghan yarn. The candy corn and pumpkin were made out of Red Heart and part of a Caron One-Pounder.

Friday, August 22, 2008

No blog posting is complete without a cat photo, so you get yet another cute Polly photo. Here she is with her head squished into the arm of this very beat up chair. All those little paws in the air is just SO funny (Bart also sleeps like this, but not as much as Polly). The afghan is actually something picked up from a garage sale for something that was a little more airy than my other afghans. Yes, I have a couple of afghans purchased from garage sales. Sometimes it's obvious that they are sold by folks who either desire everything to be color coordinated or perhaps do not like handcrafted items (the 2 ripples appeared never to have been used).

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

I have spent days figuring out and enjoying Ravelry.com. Been a long time since I saw a new website that I really enjoy. It not only has a lot of knitting, but crochet as well. Of course, my project for the Crochet Games has suffered a bit for that. Today I will be working on it as I think I have only 4 days to complete before the end of the Games!

September will be a busy month. I need to start archiving all my many downloads (from 4 years!) and taking them off the computer. We expect to be needing a new hard drive soon, so it's best to do it before a crash. Yes, I know, I need to be mashed with a wet noodle for not doing decent backups. I deserve it. However, there is just no excuse with the low cost of jump drives. I now have 2 4-gig jump drives. One will hopefully contain all my patterns and the other all my Kodak photos. Then, I can decide what I'm going to put on disk. Why both? There is always the potential of a jump drive failing, but they are oh-so-more-convenient than a disk.

I've become a fan of two new-to-me shows. One is on BBC America called Primeval. Check it out on Saturday night. The other is Eureka, which is a SciFi channel series going into its 3rd season. I had never actually seen it and bought dvds of the first two seasons. My kind of show.

Polly, who is quickly becoming a Computer Cat, is featured below. Her latest gambit to get me to go to bed is to lay on the computer tower and just stare at me, willing me to go to bed. Yes, why won't she go to bed herself? It's not a cat's way apparently.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I guess you can tell that things like the UFOlympics (in this case Ravelympics because I was too late for the UFOlympics signup) actually do a lot to help you get things done! I finished the Banff sweater this morning. Extremely cosey, but awfully big. While it was expected to be loose (design intent), this is large enough to fit a woman in size 3X. The raglan shaping, however, prevents the shoulders and underarms from being swamped, however, so I'm happy. I'm questioning, however, whether it will fit if I lose 25 pounds. As I said, awfully big (57 inches around as pattern states). Next time I make this sweater, I'll do a top down raglan.

It is a dreary day today so did a flash photo which of course, immediately eliminates all the detailing. I'll update later with a better photo. The photo illustrates the sleeve folded back on one side (and it stays put!).

Banff Sweater done in XL size using size 10 circulars. Yarn is brown Bernat Boucle (so very soft). Note, due to the difficulty of getting gauge in ribbing with this nubbly yarn, I recommend going down 2 needle sizes for the ribbing. I added 3 inches of length to this pattern. http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter03/PATTbanff.html

Sunday, August 10, 2008

At last, the purple sweater is completed! This is done with 2 strands of Lion Brand Imagine (Purple Haze) which is an acrylic mohair. The sweater is nearly 2 sizes too large for my model's shoulder's, but my Mom was my only volunteer since nobody knows how to run my camera (it's point and click. How tough is that?). I completed the knitting on this sweater in 2005 and lost the yarn ball to finish it. Polly, the knitting cat, found not one but TWO of them (I know not where).

I will now move on to my next Ravelympics entry, the nubbly brown Banff sweater so many have complained about and is my oldest knitting/crochet WIP now that the purple sweater is done. In the past few months, I've discovered many who made this sweater didn't like their result because the ribbing just doesn't pull in very well. Totally disappointing for those who used wool, but since I used cheapo Bernat Boucle, I'll just add some elastic thread if needed.

Yes, you need kitty photos. Here's Alice wondering why I'm shooting photos of her sleeping. She is sleeping on a Sister's Choice quilt I did a couple years ago. Polly is trying to implore me to open my rolling knitting case so that she can get the yarn (yes, I think she can smell yarn). While not obvious in photos, it's very easy to tell the difference between them. Alice is much smaller than Polly and has diffuse black splotches shot with white, while Polly has solid black splotches.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

I don't ordinarily discuss other blogs and links that I go to. I just add them to the sidebar. However, I came across a blog today that I do want to point out. Krystal designed a really cute crochet block. In exchange for the pattern, you send her a square. She puts squares together for afghans and then donates them to charity. She has links to examples of completed projects at her blog and WOW, these are fabulous. So, take a look. Getting the pattern requires joining a Yahoo!Groups group, which is fine by me.http://krochetkrystal.blogspot.com/

Anyway, mowed the lawn this a.m. and getting all my last minute stuff together for Knitting and Crocheting during the Olympics. As yet, I still need to find the orange yarn and the cord for my camera so that I can upload photos during competitions. While I often don't watch much on the Olympics except for Opening Ceremonies and Gymnastics, it's mostly because I never know what time certain events will be on. This year, NBC has different things scheduled on different channels. One thing on broadcast and different stuff on different Satellite channels. Yay!!! I love badminton and volleyball and have never seen the beach volleyball. I could care less about basketball and soccer, yet that is exactly what others want to watch. I imagine Taekwondo will get a lot of coverage this year because there are 3 siblings from the US team competing. All in all, some exciting stuff for we couch potatoes to watch.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Today was the day that I decided to get an inventory of my yarn, determine what projects needed it, and find a single place for it. Ok.. I now recognize that a single place is not possible. Two places might be hard to manage as well. I figured I had enough yarn for 2-3 afghans. Not so. Try 6-7. That doesn't include the yarn purchased for felted slippers, or socks, or a few other minor project. A few skeins I have rethought and will abandon. Did find a lot more yarn for the scrap yarn hexagon afghan, however, so I can procede on that once again.

What is inspiring this is the need to replace a window, hence cleaning up my craft room, plus preparing for the Ravelympics (completing projects during the Olympics sponsored by the Ravelry Board. I've listed my 2 sweaters plus the Halloween kit for completion and added some charity bears. I should also add a simple potholder.

Polly has discovered a new love. The Annies Attic box. I set it on the wastebasket next to my chair and she hopped into it. After much petting, she is now asleep. Yes, in the box. Good training for a young computer cat, IMHO.

More new stuff in the mail today. I received several patterns from Maggie's Crochet. Patterns include kitty pillows, fun fur pillow and a Marigold Afghan pattern. I actually kept a photo of a Marigold Afghan pattern from Family circle from the 70s. I couldn't get the kit then, and looked for a pattern that would satisfy my need for that afghan (which actually had too much openwork). Maggie came through and has exactly what I need and yes, I have a good deal of the yarn needed in my stash!

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Order from Annie's Attic came today including 2 books and a pattern booklet.

Of course, afghan books predominate. Looking forward to making the cover afghan from the 50Sensational Crochet Afghans & Throws book. I have a class in 45 minutes, so can't really peruse this book, but it does have some very interesting afghans besides the front cover. 101 Granny Squares gives directions for, yes, 101 granny squares. Does not look to be repeats of 99 Granny Squares, although I have seen some similar squares before. If you really like granny squares and motif-by-motif afghan making, you will find more modern-style designs here, particularly stylized flowers.

Here's the cross stitch one I bought. I know that the sun/moon genre is pretty much behind us, but I want to do ONE project with them.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Well, it seems that I had already passed the cutoff date for the UFOlympics, but the Ravelry group is having their own events, so I'm entered in WIP Wrestling. However, the Crochet Greek Games is still on and you can join those at www.crochetville.org.

I'm still wending my way through Ravelry. Nice setup for including your projects, but I am only including current and those I have stash for already. Just like blogging, this stuff help you to continue to finish projects.

Friday, August 01, 2008

Once again, it is time for the Olympics and once again, someone is hosting the UFOlympics. This is designed to help you complete an unfinished project while watching the Olympics. I am also joining the 2008 Crochet Games of Ancient Greece as a reason to do a kit that's been hanging around for some time.

You too can participate. Here's a link to the rules and some of the instructions. You may need to join another site to participate.Link to UFOlympics (Knitting)http://knitting.xaviermusketeer.com/?p=1020Link to Crochet Games (Crochet)http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=78223

I'm entering 2 items to be completed. The purple sweater and the Banff Sweater. The purple sweater is completely knitted, but requires sewing up and final finishing. The Banff Sweater requires a cowl neck to be knitted. My crochet project is a Halloween kit I purchased 4 years ago.

My purple sweater was actually the first sweater I made with actual knitting directions as all my Norwegian sweaters require only charts. I used Lion Brand Imagine yarn and did all the knitting in purple and then lost my last skein. Polly, the yarn kitty, found it (does this surprise me? No, it does not). I partially sewed it up and had this odd lump in the arm. I have since removed what I had sewn up and started again. And there it sits. 2 hours and I should be done.

Here's the neck area of my purple sweater as well as the book that provided the instructions.Color 'chip' of Purple Haze sweater. Lion Brand Imagine yarn.Ribbing of Banff sweater and completed raglan sleeve. Very nubbly yarn, I used a Bernat yarn purchased at Joann's. It has tons of yardage - 5 skeins will finish it. Body and sleeves are done. Need to do cowl neck and finishing.

My 2008 Crochet Games of Ancient Greece project is this kit I purchased from Annies Attic. It's a little complex, and includes a few new techniques for me including crocheting very fine yarn.

I am also currently working on two take-a-long projects. One is another crocheted, scrappy, use it up, hexagon afghan in various Red Heart yarns, and the other is a crocheted ladybug afghan. Yep. Another. Both are commercial patterns, so you don't have to wait for me to get my act together and post instructions! The hexagon afghan is from Bernat #530162 HouseWarming and the Ladybug crocheted pattern can be purchased at http://www.maggiescrochet.com. I am still in the early stages of both of these take-a-long projects.

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About Me

I've been crocheting since 1971, knitting again since 1991, quilting since 1992, scrapbooking since 1995 and cross-stitching since 2003. I primarily crochet afghans and knit norwegian sweaters. My quilts tend to be traditional patterns. Cross-stitching varies, but I'm fond of fantasy/enchantment themes. My scrapbooks are mostly scenic photos-a real challenge. I love to Travel, but don't get to go often. My last trip was 2005 to Texas!

Trading!

There are 3 sites that allow you to trade for items. Paperbackswap.com does books and audiobooks (includes craft books). Swapacd.com does CD (music) but does charge 49 cents per transaction. SwapaDVD does DVDs. IF you decide to join any of these places, please list me as a referral (QuiltedKnitter).

www.paperbackswap.comwww.swapacd.comwww.swapadvd.com

My current available bookshelf can be seen from here:http://QuiltedKnitter.paperbackswap.comhttp://QuiltedKnitter.swapacd.comhttp://QuiltedKnitter.swapadvd.com